Page 8 of Hot Doctor & Secret Baby

"Do you remember that pediatrician you introduced me to at the party last weekend? What was her name… Rossi?"

"Lexie? Yeah, she's married to Dr. Pierce Rossi."

"Yes, that's the one. Is there any way you could give me her contact information? She mentioned some potential work I might be interested in at her clinic's oncology wing. I meant to get her card before we left, but it somehow slipped my mind."

"Sure, no problem. I'll text it to you."

I thank her and hang up the phone, then dance around the living room while I wait for her text. "This isn't over yet!"

Ten minutes later, Lexie's contact info slides into my inbox. But she's not just any Lexie, and my interest in her has nothing to do with her husband. It's her other last name that matters to me. She just so happens to be LexieBardot…daughter ofSturgillBardot who owns the Bardot Hospital.

I doubt Lexie knows anything about the hiring decisions of Bardot, but maybe just maybe she can land me a meeting with her father. I know if he can just meet with me face to face, I can make him understand why not hiring me for this Head of Research position would be a huge mistake.

I press Lexie's number and start the call, but then immediately hang up again. I frown and let my arm flop down to my lap with the phone in hand.What the hell am I doing?

How am I going to convince Lexie to giveme- a rejected ex-applicant of Bardot who she's only met once - her father's contact info? And if she even would, what am I going to say to him? How do I approach these people without giving off the exact same crazy vibes I've already given to Kate?

When a man refuses to take no for an answer in his career, he's rewarded and praised for being determined and fearless. When a woman takes it to this extent, she's considered to be overly emotional and unstable. Even I have to admit my actions are bordering on stalkerdome.

I let out a loud groan and roll my head, cracking my tense shoulders and neck. When I open my eyes, I find myself staring at my laptop that's perched on the coffee table. Not feeling quite ready to go into full stalker mode yet, I reach for it and open it up to navigate to Bardot's website.

The least I can do for now is try to find some clue as to what might have gone wrong…like maybe they've already put out a press release about the top three candidates they did pick. Or maybe there's some kind of fatal flaw in their vision or mission that doesn't mesh with my own goals. But how can that be? What kind of hospital wouldn't want to boast that their research team found the cure to cancer?

I don't know how long I'm scrolling before I feel a sudden sharp jolt in my chest. The face that briefly rolled across my screen gave me a jump scare worse than any horror movie I've ever seen. I know I didn't see what I think I saw, but I'm almost too scared to scroll back and look again.

I quickly shake it off, telling myself I'm being silly, and run my finger back up the mousepad. The familiar face I thought I saw reappears on the screen. Gravity seems to stop working. It feels like absolutely everything drops from underneath me, leaving me floating in some alternate universe that is the stuff of nightmares.

Right there, in the middle of one of the Bardot staff pages, is a picture ofhim. Joshua Ashford. Also known as the guy who nearly ruined my entire life back in college.

How can he work at Bardot? And how could I not have seen this before now?

I lean in closer to see his official title.Dr. Joshua Ashford - Head of Neurology.Reading his name in writing makes my stomach turn flips, and I have that dizzy feeling again - like I'm floating up around my ceiling.

Maybe I don't have to stalk Sturgill Bardot after all. The only person I have to force myself to face is Joshua. After all, he almost destroyed me. He owes me one, and I think it's about time to call in that favor.

The only question is…how am I ever going to convince him to see me?

3

Joshua

After a morning of absolute hell, I find myself alone at last. I sink back in my office chair and massage the bridge of my nose. The words of one of my direct reports keeps burning through my mind, no matter how much I try to block it out.

You have unrealistic expectations that none of us can ever truly perform up to.

What am I supposed to do with that? How do Inotfire someone who admits they can't do their job the way it should be done? And an even more troubling question…if no one can do what needs to be done, even out of the best and brightest minds in the country, what am I even doing anymore?

I glance up to the framed photo that rests on my bookshelf.On days like these, I feel like I'm failing her.

No, I'm not failing her. It's all of these idiots I work with who are failing her and every other person who will ever have to hear that they've been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

I'm not going to just sit back and let that happen. If the people around me can't do better, then I'll just have to put together a better team.

I shoot up and slide back into my white coat, then head to the elevator and push the button for the top floor. I ignore the pleas of Sturgill's secretary, storming right past to his office door. I knock, but don't wait for a reply before flinging the door open.

"Dr. Ashford," he sighs with a slightly irritated smile. "What a surprise to see you."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bardot!" his secretary cries from behind me. "He wouldn't listen to me. I tried to tell him he needed to make an appointment."

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